Thread: Tiny bit excited

Originally Posted by shamirj

1-2. siliconed the sides where the old and the new aluminium sit, side by side - must say does look seamless in real viewing

3. bought some primer for the bare aluminium, to cover in prep for painting

4. applied primer to the surface which did away with minor scratches on the aluminium and looks great and NO Holes. so got me thinking what have i done, or started. Now looking at doing the sides and the base as well. With the results I am getting its a no brainer, would be foolish not to do.

Is that primer an etch primer , with alum you need etch primer to get proper adhesion before top coat.

Not sure that is an etch primer, or just a primer - hope this works

1. first of all needed to remove this side bracket which holds the chains for the tailgate

2. two more alum side panels were sought and glue applied ready for adhesion (inner side panels) which weren't too bad but did have a couple of bolt holes on the sides, given how new the tops looked needed to do the sides to blend in

3-4. both sides adhered, then some silicone to fill the corner along the ridge line to try and blend to make it look like one panel, which it does in real view, needs a light sand then ready to paint

5. primer applied

6. rear view now contemplating the base floor next, this floor panel has more bows in it then the other panels so far so will be more of a challenge to do well.

pretty happy with the results so far looking like a brand new vehicle sadly rest of the vehicle not in the same state ...

If it dose not say etch primer on the can than it will only be normal primer.

Which will soon come off, along with any paint laid over it!

1. this chain buckle needed a clean from the old oversprayed paint from previous owner, so before and after clean shots

2. couldn't help myself but buy some new chain for the link, the old chain was looking sad and rusted, new will have this black cover which stops any rattles in the back and works really well for opening and closing the tailgate without chains getting caught

3. underside of the buckle just secures with a pin - so simple to remove and change out the chains

4. attacked the tailgate was badly warped, so only left with the base skin, not sure my alum supplier can bend this up in new alum but will ask if not will have to bend at home

5. curious to see what the underside of the side supports work and how they secure the 3 bolts, simples...

6. see the square metal which is threaded and used as a nut secured in its housing, they just slide in and out.

7. hear what your saying about the primer so did a sand down till i purchase some etch primer.

Q1. should i remove all the primer or should a sand be enough to overspray with etch primer?
Q2. how am i going to spot weld the alum for the tailgate supports? I have hired a spot welder for steel and used that in the past for other projects but never done alum.

Q1 Remove it all - if the etch primer is only stuck to the primer not the aluminium, it will not secure the paint you put over the top of it.

Q2 I am no expert on spot welding, but I think the same equipment used on steel will work provided you have the correct settings - experiment on some scrap first!

1. onto the floor panel - this middle tyre bracket needed to come off, not that easy so ended up with the grinder to get it off

2. this was revealed behind this panel, so a quick clean up was in order, this had to come off so that i could slide my 1200mm panel into position, agonized over whether I should have them cut the alum to 91mm or 90.5mm, went with 91mm wide and fitted perfectly, phew

3. dry fit to ensure it fits well before adhering to the floor. didn't realise till i got home this was more shiny alum then the previous sheets!

4. gap between the floor and the sides are tight as anything, just need to finish them off with some silicone in the gaps for that semi professional look, so glad i started doing this, looks a million dollars compared to before, not perfect but good enough for me. great to not have any additional holes in the aluminium.

5. final shot for today was sanding that shiny alum off, doing all this sanding by hand, but will need to find my sander somewhere at my parents house. Thanks John, will remove that primer off the sides and then purchase some etch primer. I need to plan ahead if i need some supplied due to click and collect.

Have you thought about putting aluminium angle over the joins for strength? Just an idea.